Washington Wizards Fantasy Basketball Season Preview

After finishing 41-41 and finishing 10th in the Eastern Conference, the Wizards are ready for a bounce back. John Wall is as good of a floor general as ever and Bradley Beal is going to attempt to prove his $130 Million dollar contract, but there are a lot of other question marks surrounding the team.

The Departure of Nene and others will switch up the play style with players like Markieff Morris and Otto Porter Jr. and will have Washington competing for the 6-8th playoff seed.

Rise in Value

Trey Burke

The former Jazz is coming to Washington and looking for a nice change of scenery and improvement to his game. He had a shrinking presence in Utah playing fewer minutes and starts since his rookie year in 2013. He will be an impactful player in an environment desperate for a backup Point Guard to Wall. As far as backup Guards go, Burke is a great grab for any fantasy team in the draft.

Markieff Morris

He just left a toxic chemistry environment in Phoenix, but appears to be ready to go in Washington. He started 21 of the 27 games he played in a Wizards Jersey last year and averaged a decent 12.5 points and 6 rebounds a game. Despite his rocky departure from Phoenix, he should be primed to make a leap in his stats and become an effective starter for Washington.

Decrease in Value

Bradley Beal

After resigning with the Wizards for a $130 million dollar contract, Beal has some pressure on his back for this season. It's not like he hasn't been a decent scoring force on Washington, averaging 17.4 points per game last regular season and 23.4 points in the 2015 playoffs. Despite his scoring achievements, he is still incredibly vulnerable to injuries and should be drafted with huge caution warnings.

Marcin Gortat

Gortat will be turning 33 this February and has been a stable big man his career and in his three years with Washington. With so many changes on the team it's right to predict a fall in his career in the coming years. He averaged close to a double double last year, but sadly, that may be the best last year Gortat will have, and will likely fall in minutes per game and rebounding, a small trend he's been seeing for 5 years now or so. I do really like Gortat, but his value seems sketchy for a fantasy team to draft too early.

Injury Risks

Bradley Beal

Beal was having his best year in points per game and FG % last year all while dealing with a string of injuries. He missed three games with a shoulder injury before being ruled out again later in the year for a right leg injury. And then yet again went out for three games for a sprained pelvis. With luck, Beal is past all of his injury woes and can continue to develop with John Wall in to one of the best back court in the NBA, and with luck, the best shooting guard on your fantasy team., but should be taken with caution because a recently injured player can go down quickly.

Other Player Summaries

Otto porter

Porter is coming off the best year of his young career. Averaging 10 points and 8 rebounds in his sophomore season is a great start to becoming a threat in the NBA. If this continues, Otto Porter can become one of the better breakout players this year and for your fantasy team as a slam dunk in the later rounds of your draft.

John Wall
Wall is coming off the best season of his 6 year career. He finished averaging about 20 points, 10 assists, and 2 steals to go with it per game. Wall is one of my favorites and truly one of the best Guards in the whole league. His success is likely to continue in Washington desperation to return to the playoffs. There is nothing wrong at all with drafting John Wall in the first round of your draft.